Parents of Asthmatic children lets chat here...

[Nemoandthefishes]

As we all know now tends to be when the asthma kicks off worst so thought we could all have a thread going where we can chat about different things...

My dd1 is asthmatic and is 2.9yrs old, started with breathing issues at 3wks old and was officially diagnosed last october.She has been admitted too many times to remember from asthma attacks/respiritory issues. She is currently on 4mg montelukast, 5ml cetrizine antihistamine, clenil modulite 100 2 puffs morning and night, salbutamol when required

Just found this about brittle asthma -seems a bit different to your understanding of the term gigglewitch.

Not trying to be arsey - just wondered what was the correct term for these differnet types of asthma - DS is triggered by a virus, not allergies, so what is the technical term for that? Anyone know?

all good stuff, jojay - the whole thing is so confusing and explanations vary so much
I don't think anybody on a thread like this would be trying to be 'arsey' - we're all scrambling around the same set of obstacles to varying degrees. Having read a few definitions I am in a great deal of doubt as to whether the doc that said ds2 had the 'brittle' variety was anywhere near right. Gawd the whole thing is so hit and miss, like mspotatochip so clearly says with the dx / not - between two doctors. What a mare it is!!

Dd has hyper episodes even when she is not taking any ventolin! I just wondered if it is also a symptom in itself?

The truth of the matter is that doctors still don't understand asthma. That's not a criticism; it's perplexing and complex condition. I just know that there are two places in which we never suffer from it:

Up snowy Alpine mountains in January.
On sunny, pollen-free Mediterranean islands in August.

Obviously I need a lotto win.

I agree, bridie.
No two doctors or asthma nurses have given us the same info; each seems to advocate a different technique for using the spacer, for how to do a proper peak flow reading etc.
Poor DS2 is constantly being given conflicting advice.

see we all say the same
spot on bridie & HC!

This is interesting. Ds1 now 10 has had asthma since he was three. it was triggered by a head lice treatment.

We have been trying to manage it, but it's not greta. He wants to do all the sports at school but he gets very tired and can't find the energy to keep up with the others..

This time of year is bad for him, the cold and then he gets chesty.

What I have found to be brilliant is taking him to a bowen practitioner. It has helped his asthma beyond belief.

hi kitty.
the bowen practitioner idea looks interesting - have had a quick google.
please say more about how it helped your DS.

what is a bowen practitioner? I've never heard of?

Hello, can I join in? DD3 has been diagnosed for 3 years and is triggered by allergies, excercise and colds/virus. She is controlled very well (usually) on Becotide twice daily, ventolin as required and Loratadine. However she is a cougher not a wheezer (unless very very far gone)which has caused problems in the past until the school educated by our asthma nurse.

Oh I'm glad you started this thread. Did anyone have any problems with their DH/DP over asthma? I ask because DH totally TOTALLY refused to accept that DD has asthma. "None of that sort of stuff in my family" blah blah.

Also what do you do about sport during the bad months (whenever they are). DD has her inhalers in her pocket and periodically has to stop to inhale.

Also why does DD get asthma throughout the summer months in England but is totally fine in France?

Is she allergic to English summers?

Never mind dh, I didn't want to accept I had a ridiculously atopic child. Nothing like that in my family. never heard the like

Prolonged running is the only sport that has a significant impact on dd2. I sent a note in to school asking that she be allowed to walk and jog round the Cross Country track, as required, rather than being hounded to run the entire way.

Quattro, re the sport DD takes her ventolin half an hour before PE/swimming etc and again during the lesson if needed (only needs it if she forgets before hand)

Dd1 up 3 times last night, and coughing like anything this morning (she has more of a coughy asthma, than a wheezy one). None of the stuff we have used so far seems to have made much difference, and she is still up at least once a night, every night coughing. Our next appointment isn't until Christmas, so I guess we will just have to keep on the regime that we're on until then.

Does anyone else give Piriton when their lo has symptoms, even if it is cold/virus induced asthma?

Also, has anyone here tried cutting stuff out of diet to see if that makes a difference?

Mine can USUALLY cope with cross-country and running and are actually quite good at it, but I make them take a big slug of Ventolin beforehand and always try to be present in case they need a top-up.

We have beclometasone day and night--two puffs, sometimes one. Once or twice a year I get them down to not needing it. Usually when we're abroad.

I think there are different kinds of pollen and mould which affect people differently. So in France you might not have that particular type of tree or crop. The damp climate perhaps also gives rise to moulds, which trigger some people's asthma.

I have given Piriton or similar and I think it helps a bit. So does using Haymax or Vasoline around the nostrils to keep the pollen out.

I also have some reason to believe that giving fish oils for the Omega 3 reduces lung inflammation. It's worth trying!

My husband, former military man, was sad about having asthma on my son's medical notes. But then I pointed out that as about a third of children seem to have asthma the Forces won't be able to afford to be too fussy in the future. Certainly not in the infantry, which is where my husband was.

I bet lots of people on this thread breastfed for ages as well. I did. So much for that theory. Perhaps it would be worse, though, if I hadn't.

I breastfed too, though only for about 4 months.

I'm 37 wks pg with no.2 now, and I keep wondering if there's anything I can do differently this time. I want to try and feed for longer - having 9 months off work instead of 6 should help - but deep down I don't really think it'll make a difference. Childhood asthma is common on both sides of my family and all the breast feeding in the world won't change your genes!!

I didnt bf and felt nothing but guilt over that but then didnt BF either ds or dd2 and neither have the issues that dd1 has
Dd1 is on the cetrizine which is a antihistamine like piriton but dont know if it will make a difference as she had only been on since her last hospital admission.

birdie i did apologise for snapping just havent had a full nights sleep in a while

Dd1 was awake 3 times last night with her cough and once asked for her 'puffer'

Well I've learnt something new today, I think Tink has brittle asthma considering the way she went the other week and she's always like that. I've taken her to afternoon surgery, been sent home because she's OK, got back and she's just curled on my lap, had to call for my parents and in A&E in the evening because she's so bad. Now they just send her straight to A&E for a nebuliser if there's anything on the chest.

Interested to see people talking about nightmares from Singulair/ Montelukast. We had a really bad month before this latest episode where she wouldn't go down at night and wanted to be in with us. She has been OK he last week but she is totally exhausted.

TBD has been great, it's in both sides of the family and with everything we've been through we don't take chances - especially for him.

"None of that sort of stuff in my family"

Sounds like my dad and his mum! Yeah, the child has two sides of family! She's even trying to put my Hughes Syndrome down to her family, she's one of ten and my dad is one of five, there is very little chance she could have it (she does have everything though ). Mum on the other hand was one of four, all early and two died after birth with major problems. All three of Mum's children had problems through the pregnancy. Anyway, that's going away from the topic!

Bridie3 I'm still breastfeeding at 26 months, I tell myself it would be worse if I hadn't. For example in hospital I was the only nutrition she was getting and she's lost a lot of weight, if I wasn't still feeding her she would have lost more as she would have only been drinking. I do feel quite guilty about the early days. She was a 31 weeker, rapid delivery so no steroids, intubated and I took my time to produce enough milk for her so she was on formula for awhile. Whilst breastfeeding won't change genes or (as in Tink) damage to the lungs, without it things could be worse. Weaning ages also play a part - both weaning onto solids and from the breast.

That's interesting, TBM, about the extended breastfeeding. Who knows what other problems you've averted by doing that?

I realise as I read these threads that my children aren't THAT bad in comparison with other children. It's a horrible illness. I wish they knew more about what causes it.

Just to bust another hypothesis--we live in the muddy countryside, as I've said, and have always had animals, so the house isn't exactly pristine. Sigh.

How do people deal with schools nurseries etc? I'm sure our nursery just thinks I'm neurotic and some of the staff don't give her her inhalers when instructed because "oh she seemed ok" and I pick her up in the evening and shes rattling and wheezing like mad and they report that "she was alittle quiet today" Oh you reckon!?

That's a tough one. Mine were never that asthmatic at nursery, thank heavens. It's really hard and I suspect it's only when you get a nursery worker who's had asthma themselves that they ever really understand.

Several TAs at the children's school have themselves got children with asthma and they are really clued up. I was trying to explain to a non-asthma-aware TA that if one child was coughing and couldn't find her inhaler it was all right to use her brother's blue inhaler as they were exactly the same. 'Oh I could never do that,' she said. 'It's not right to use another child's medicine.'

'It is in this case,' I said.

In fact mine don't get dangerously wheezy, just enough to spoil their fun at break or PE or disrupt concentration. The thought that they wouldn't let them use their sibling's blue inhaler to get through it was slightly annoying. I then labelled each inhaler with both children's names!

I am lucky in dd1s current nursery the staff are fantastic. In the one she used to go to they were terrible she would be tugging and they wouldnt think to phone me and would give her 1 puff despite being told numerous times how bad she is if she tugs.

Nemo - thanks for starting this thread. My dd is 29 months old and was diagnosed with asthma last December. I am dreading the next few months as it was this time last year that she began to get ill. She had numerous chest infections, treated with anti biotics, prednilisone and nebuliser when needed but she never seemed to get much better. Her appetite was very poor and she didn't gain weight but the doctors seemed content to let us lurch from one episode to the next. From reading the other posts it sounds like she has 'brittle' asthma, triggered by the cold virus as she would start with a minor cold that would suddenly deteriorate into breathing difficulties. Eventually she had to be admitted to hospital a few days before Christmas with her oxygen levels very low.

Having the diagnosis has made a big difference to us. She uses a Becotide preventer and Ventolin when needed and has only had to have prednilisone once since hospital stay. She has become a much happier child with more energy and a better appetite and has finally put on some weight. I do worry now we are heading into the winter that when she starts getting colds it could flare up again but at least I hve the confidence now to know what to do and not be fobbed off with more anti biotics.

I am 35 weeks pregnant and hope the new baby won't have the same problems.
Sorry for the long post. Thanks for reading.

suile while there is no guarantee about your new baby please try not to stress I have a ds who is 5 on fri and dd2 who is 21mths and neither of them have any issues with asthma or eczema. tis just DD1 who has the problems but saying that she is the most easy going, happiest child out of the 3 and socially excellent in any situation due to so much interaction with strangers!!! I can happily leave her on a ward with nurses knowing she is confident while dh and I swap shifts so to speak.